DP Ruto handing over a certificate to a graduate. The government will from July start offering internships to graduates from agricultural colleges across the country. Photo courtesy.

The Kenyan government will start offering internship from agricultural graduates from different colleges across the country beginning July this year to help them acquire hands-on skills in food production making the sector more profitable.

According to the Deputy President, William Samoei Ruto’s official twitter handle, the programme is aimed at making agricultural in the country attractive for the fresh graduates and more profitable.

“The government continue to lay modern infrastructure to ensure quality learning, equip youth with contemporary skills that will benefit our economy,” read the tweet.

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This seems similar to a programme President Uhuru Kenyatta and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed early 2016 to enable fresh graduates from various higher learning institutions to attend an 11 months practical training course in Israel.

The agreement or programme dubbed “The Jerusalem Declaration” or the “Declaration on Collaboration in Water and Irrigation” has seen a number of youth gain practical skills in different crops production enabling them to earn a living.

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Peter Kimani Gitau, 25, is among the 101 such students who benefited from such trip in 2016 at the Arava International Center for Agriculture Training (AICAT) in Sapir, Israel.

He has since 2017 ventured into short-term-crops such as cucumber and tomato production in Kiambu County earning him Sh760,000 net profit a season.

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The deputy president also opened Bukura Agricultural College Education Complex in Kakamega County yesterday. The college was constructed by the government at a cost of Sh200m.